Academic Ranking Argument
By: Prof. Dr. Younes Megdadi
We have follow, through the media, a number of academic scholars who have different opinions about the academic classification as one of the hot academic files, which has become imposing itself on universities around the world, aiming to highlight the identity, status, reputation and outputs of educational universities within an arrangement obtained according to specific criteria. This is done annually within Reports issued by specialized international institutions, given that the importance of classification in its files obliges universities to improve their educational, research and other inputs out of keenness on their academic reputation and competitiveness in line with developments in university education around the world.
Views of those who are supporters and opponents have differed, some of them see that classification is a game or a lie run by global commercial institutions whose goals are to make money from universities as actual customers and their urgent need for classification, and some indicated that some prestigious universities have left the classification for discovering some facts about international rating agencies, Some indicated that some universities employ the topic of classification for marketing purposes, while some indicated the importance of academic classification as an input that focuses on improving the quality of educational outputs for universities to ensure their ability to respond to the requirements of the labor market.
Regardless divergence of opinions that are valued and respected, we have indicated in an article that was previously published that we have dealt with the subject of academic classification and its importance, and we have indicated in it the size of the required efforts and the necessary preparation as an infrastructure that universities must provide as basic requirements in accordance with the classification standards in terms of academic, educational, research and other structure. We also suggested that a general conference should be held that brings together universities to discuss the requirements of the international academic classification due to its importance in coming up with a national strategic plan to deal with the classification requirements as national universities.
Accordingly, we believe that there is nothing to prevent moving towards classification despite our conviction of the modest capabilities of our competitive universities compared to regional and international universities with a reputation, prestigious history, and huge academic and educational capabilities. The contents of those standards to be a real nucleus for entering the arena of classification despite the indicators of modest improvement shown by the reports of rating institutions that were published during the past few years, especially the QS classification, but the classification criteria need focus and more efforts, and that those in charge of it be experienced and specialized.
We are all aware of the extent to which our universities need change and qualitative improvement of their inputs and outputs, and it is not permissible for us to remain in the argument box and away from what is happening in the region and global academic development, especially in light of global competitiveness, which has cast a shadow over all sectors, including the university education sector in particular, which is still It is doomed to the labor market and employment for graduates as a hot challenge, which requires university administrations to pay attention to their reputation, status and competitive academic identity in order to employ them in many areas, including student recruitment, graduate employment, and others. Therefore, we see that classification has become an urgent necessity for universities and the advancement of their educational mission, and it is in the general interest of all relevant parties, in line with the visions and aspirations of His Majesty King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein and his trustworthy Crown Prince, may God protect and preserve them.
